There have been 51 players taken 17th over-all since the first combined draft in 1967. The
Chargers haven't drafted 17th overall in all those years.

The NFL draft is often called a crapshoot, and since only 12 of the 51 players (23.5%) taken
#17 overall ever made a Pro Bowl, and only 5 (9.8%) were ever selected 1st team All-Pro.
16 of the 51 (31.4%) did start 100+ regular season games, and since 2010 would be the soonest
a draftee could have reached 100 games, so that should be 16 of 44 (36.4%). Still the odds
are long.

Two of the 51 currently reside in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Gene Upshaw, the 17th pick
overall in the first combined draft (1967), and Emmitt Smith, 17th in 1990.

Oddity; Upshaw came out of Texas A&M-Kingsville. Texas A&M-Kingsville also had players taken
17th overall in back-to-back seasons, 1972 & 1973.

13. Washington Redskins - Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan: A 2017 consensus All-American, the Michigan DT finished his career with 13.5 sacks and 32 tackles for loss. That's not easy to do from the inside of the defensive line.

17. Los Angeles Chargers - Derwin James, S, Florida State: The Chargers may have a more pressing need on their offensive line, but they just can't pass up the value of Derwin James after he slides this far. James is a Swiss Army Knife of a defender. He tallied 186 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 15 TFL, three INT, 15 passes defended and two forced fumbles in 26 games at Florida State.

13. Washington Redskins - Maurice Hurst, DT, Michigan: A 2017 consensus All-American, the Michigan DT finished his career with 13.5 sacks and 32 tackles for loss. That's not easy to do from the inside of the defensive line.

17. Los Angeles Chargers - Derwin James, S, Florida State: The Chargers may have a more pressing need on their offensive line, but they just can't pass up the value of Derwin James after he slides this far. James is a Swiss Army Knife of a defender. He tallied 186 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 15 TFL, three INT, 15 passes defended and two forced fumbles in 26 games at Florida State.

... that's a playmaker...

He seems like the kind of player that would be a good fit for Bradley and his defense.

I like both Vita Vea or D'Ron Payne for the bolts... the bolts clearly have a need at that position... Payne has been a top DT in his class for sometime... Vea has ascended through elbow grease... the interview might decide the coin choice...

am leaning toward Vea, although the Pac-12 competition wasn't the SEC... iirc, dt's have not fared well if they're 6-5 or taller, as the nfl o-linemen get under their pads...

Wynn is also a need, imo, at #17...

but if,.... I also like James and Davenport - their athleticism is exactly what Bradley likes... should be interesting at the underwear combine on Sunday, Mar 4: DL, LB...

I like both Vita Vea or D'Ron Payne for the bolts... the bolts clearly have a need at that position... Payne has been a top DT in his class for sometime... Vea has ascended through elbow grease... the interview might decide the coin choice...

am leaning toward Vea, although the Pac-12 competition wasn't the SEC... iirc, dt's have not fared well if they're 6-5 or taller, as the nfl o-linemen get under their pads...

Wynn is also a need, imo, at #17...

but if,.... I also like James and Davenport - their athleticism is exactly what Bradley likes... should be interesting at the underwear combine on Sunday, Mar 4: DL, LB...

The more I look at the way mock drafts play out, the more I think I'd be happy with either Vita Vea or D'Ron Payne at #17.

With either, the Chargers would get a whole lot better on defense.

Not sure you can say that if the drafted player is S Derwin James.

agree. biggest weakness on D is ILB and DT. Understand that James is good, he wouldn't hurt the team obviously. I just don't know how much better they get with a better S if the middle front 7 is still a weakness.

A team who's SS leads in tackles is probably a team with a bad defense imo.

The more I look at the way mock drafts play out, the more I think I'd be happy with either Vita Vea or D'Ron Payne at #17.

With either, the Chargers would get a whole lot better on defense.

Not sure you can say that if the drafted player is S Derwin James.

I think both of those guys would be good choices. I think it depends somewhat on how free agency goes for them. If they sign Boston, they probably would be better off with an interior guy. James seems like a good fit for Bradley though. They can also upgrade the interior with one of quite a few decent interior lineman on the free agent market this year. Bunch of decent but not great guys out there. A couple real good ones that would too pricey, but several guys who can stuff the run. A few of those guys are still pretty young. They could cut Mebane and probably make that happen. Evans from Alabama would be a good choice too in my opinion. They need linebacker help too.

There have been 51 players taken 17th over-all since the first combined draft in 1967. The
Chargers haven't drafted 17th overall in all those years.

The NFL draft is often called a crapshoot, and since only 12 of the 51 players (23.5%) taken
#17 overall ever made a Pro Bowl, and only 5 (9.8%) were ever selected 1st team All-Pro.
16 of the 51 (31.4%) did start 100+ regular season games, and since 2010 would be the soonest
a draftee could have reached 100 games, so that should be 16 of 44 (36.4%). Still the odds
are long.

Two of the 51 currently reside in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Gene Upshaw, the 17th pick
overall in the first combined draft (1967), and Emmitt Smith, 17th in 1990.

Oddity; Upshaw came out of Texas A&M-Kingsville. Texas A&M-Kingsville also had players taken
17th overall in back-to-back seasons, 1972 & 1973.

agree. biggest weakness on D is ILB and DT. Understand that James is good, he wouldn't hurt the team obviously. I just don't know how much better they get with a better S if the middle front 7 is still a weakness.

A team who's SS leads in tackles is probably a team with a bad defense imo.

true.... we need to build from the line(middle is weak), then LBers(we have zero full time every down dominating type LBers, inside or outside)....buid a great front 7 and good secondary gets much better